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The Ancients
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Dani Martineck
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By:
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John Larison
About this listen
“This richly imagined journey into a dystopian future is at once cautionary and provocative, inviting us to heed the lessons of the Ancients.”—Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass
A richly imagined, sweeping novel of hope, love, and adventure set in the unforgiving world of our own descendants, by the acclaimed author of WHISKEY WHEN WE’RE DRY
A young boy and his older sisters find themselves suddenly and utterly alone, orphaned in an abandoned fishing village. Their food supplies dwindling, they set out across a breathtaking yet treacherous wilderness in search of the last of their people.
Down the coast, raiders deliver the children's mother, along with the rest of their human cargo, to the last port city of a waning empire. Determined to reunite with her family, she plots her escape—while her fellow captives plan open revolt.
At the center of power in this crumbling city, a young scholar inherits his father's business and position of privilege, along with the burden of his debts. As the empire's elite prepare to flee to new utopia across the sea, he must decide where his allegiance lies.
With a rapidly changing climate shifting the sands beneath their feet, these three paths converge in a struggle for the future of humanity—who will inherit what remains and who gets to tell its story. At once a sweeping survival story; an epic of the distant future; and a post-apocalyptic vision of hope and optimism, THE ANCIENTS weaves a multilayered narrative about human resilience, hope, and stewardship of our world for future generations.
©2024 John Larison (P)2024 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"In a sea of post-apocalyptic novels, John Larson’s The Ancients stands apart for the audacity of his world-building, the vibrant humanity of his imperiled characters, the stark, insistent drumbeat of his storytelling, and the ultimate hopefulness of his vision for the intertwined fates of our species and our planet."—Hillary Jordan, New York Times bestselling author of Mudbound and When She Woke
"This ambitious novel reaches far, far deeper than almost any post-apocalyptic tale to reframe the stakes of the climate crisis. This is a novel written by a deep soul, whose commitment to the planet, his community, and his family is on display in these pages. Larison's knife-sharp prose cuts right to the bone. He is one of our best. A true literary and intellectual maverick."—Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Godspeed
“The spare writing style enhances the stark and bleak atmosphere, but it also richly captures both the bounty and brutality of the natural world and the hard lessons they learn from it. Fables are interwoven throughout the story until this novel itself becomes something of a cautionary tale, emphasizing how to learn from the past in order to create a better world for the future.”—The Library Journal
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American Rapture
- By: CJ Leede
- Narrated by: Moniqua Plante
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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A virus is spreading across America, transforming the infected and making them feral with lust. Sophie, a good Catholic girl, must traverse the hellscape of the midwest to try to find her family while the world around her burns. Along the way she discovers there are far worse fates than dying a virgin… The end times are coming.
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Sophie's sins and violent rapists. DNF at 4 hours.
- By NMwritergal on 10-20-24
By: CJ Leede
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The Time Door
- The Eternities Series, Book 1
- By: Shannon McDermott
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Reuben Jackson is the only one who still cares about Mars. In the shambles of the Great Collapse, Earth has abandoned the Mars explorers to their fate. But Reuben will make a stand for the Mars team—even against the powerfully united politicians and scientists. In too deep, he discovers hidden conspiracies and unexpected allies. As the conflict mounts on Earth, time runs down on Mars. Left to face Mars alone, Commander Donegan Moynihan and his team have no hope of surviving after their supplies are gone.
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Refreshing
- By Amazon Customer on 11-30-24
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The Time Keepers
- By: Alyson Richman
- Narrated by: Caroline Lennon
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Two women from different worlds, Grace and Anh, are indelibly changed when a runaway boy is found on a street in their small Long Island town. Brought together by the love of this child displaced by war, the women find friendship and healing from their own painful pasts when their lives intersect with a mysterious wounded Vietnam vet. The vet, Jack, works at the Golden Hours, a watch store that mends timepieces—and might even mend damaged souls.
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Story good. But sliw
- By carol ammon on 12-20-24
By: Alyson Richman
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The Second Artifact
- By: David Collins
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In the first book, Ben had ordered a strange object from eBay. It turned out to be the missing part from an alien spacecraft. One with an AI that needed a crew so it could pass itself off as a non-AI ship. Having survived their first adventure in space, they now had a new, larger, and much faster ship. Returning to Earth should have been the easy part. They also had a wedding to plan. Unfortunately, nothing goes as planned. They are sent to a new destination in space to meet with a new alien species, with whom the other aliens' first contact didn't go very smoothly. Along the way, they ...
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I really like the premise
- By Kindle Customer on 10-22-24
By: David Collins
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Birchwood Burning
- North of Eden, Book 1
- By: Peter Robertucci Jr., Katy Light, Boyd Craven Jr.
- Narrated by: Matthew White
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Dalton Grinder's life had unraveled in a brutal series of blows. First, the Army cast him aside. Then, his wife walked out, leaving him with nothing but the hollow echo of a once-shared life. As if that wasn't enough, his last remaining relative—his grandfather—passed away, closing the final chapter of his family history. Born and bred in the heat and humidity of Florida, Dalton now finds himself heading north to the cold, unforgiving woods of Wisconsin to settle his grandfather’s affairs. But fate isn't done with him yet.
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Twist and turns leave the listener surprised for sure.
- By Anthony on 10-25-24
By: Peter Robertucci Jr., and others
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White Mars; or, The Mind Set Free
- A 21st-Century Utopia
- By: Brian W. Aldiss, Roger Penrose - contributor
- Narrated by: Dan Calley
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In the middle decades of the twenty-first century, the corporate powers on Earth have established a thriving colony on Mars as an alternative to life on the overpopulated, war-torn, ecologically ravaged home planet. But when the economy of EUPACUS—Earth's collective industrialized nations—collapses, all contact between the two worlds abruptly ceases, and the Martian pioneers are left to fend for themselves.
By: Brian W. Aldiss, and others
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Head of the Class
- System Apocalypse: Liberty, Book 1
- By: Tao Wong, Jason J. Willis
- Narrated by: Daryl Mayfield
- Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Caleb Hanson assumed the most exciting part of his field trip scouting in Northern Minnesota would be a rare bird sighting. Instead, he was abducted by hive-minded hexapods and forced to be their children's teacher. Not the worst way to ride out the end of the world. Two years later, the apocalypse has finally come for Caleb. His savior-captors are murdered, leaving him as the last line of defense for the alien kids he's grown to know and love. Now, he'll have to bend his values or watch his students die.
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Could Not Stop Listening- A Binge Fest For Sure!
- By Patrick B. on 10-19-24
By: Tao Wong, and others
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Vitalerium: Descent into the Void
- By: Nicholas Keating Casbarro
- Narrated by: Michael Neeb
- Length: 19 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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The year is 2701. Following a near-fatal disaster, roughneck freelancer Roman Matthews becomes unwittingly trapped at the center of a harrowing conspiracy. Hunted by Deorum’s government, the Coalition for Prosperity, Roman must use his deadly skillset to survive against all odds.
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Thrilling Action Packed Sci-Fi Adventure
- By Steph on 12-06-24
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A Door in the Dark
- By: Scott Reintgen
- Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Ren Monroe has spent four years proving she’s one of the best wizards in her generation. But top marks at Balmerick University will mean nothing if she fails to get recruited into one of the major houses. Enter Theo Brood. After a failed and disastrous party trick, fate has the two of them crossing paths at the public waxway portal the day before holiday. A fight breaks out. In the chaos, the portal spell malfunctions. All six students are snatched from the safety of the school’s campus and set down in the middle of nowhere. And one of them is dead on arrival.
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Why
- By Ted Alling on 06-01-23
By: Scott Reintgen
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Clean
- A Novel
- By: Alia Trabucco Zerán, Sophie Hughes - translator
- Narrated by: Silvana Kane
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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A young girl has died and the family’s maid is being interrogated. She must tell the whole story before arriving at the girl’s death.
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Mixed Feelings
- By Jeannine on 01-03-25
By: Alia Trabucco Zerán, and others
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The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024
- By: Hugh Howey, John Joseph Adams
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston, Frankie Corzo, David Lee Huynh, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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“These are dangerous stories. The kind that warp reality and threaten to change the world” warns guest editor Hugh Howey in his introduction. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024 promises a treasure trove of audacious characters, daring worldbuilding, and twisted realties. A sibling duo of supernatural hitmen. A traveling spellbreaker and his trusty alligator mount. Superheroes registering for work. Sentient spaceships with an AI-human interface grow up together with their human pilots.
By: Hugh Howey, and others
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Hothouse
- By: Brian W. Aldiss
- Narrated by: Nick Boulton
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions of years beyond our time, our Earth has long since stopped spinning—and giant flora have taken over the sunlit half of the motionless world. Here humans are among the very few animal species that still exist, struggling to survive against enormous odds, but they have become small and weak, and their numbers have dwindled to almost nothing. When the aging leader of Gren's tribe decrees it is time for the old ones to go "Up," the younger are left to make their own way below.
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Classic but seems simple
- By DrEHarris on 02-14-25
By: Brian W. Aldiss
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Nether Station
- By: Kevin J. Anderson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In the darkest part of the solar system lies a wormhole. Nether. Astrophysicist Cammie Skoura has joined the first research team traveling to the Nether anomaly, eager to understand the mechanics of the wormhole and to explore its possibilities as a shortcut to Alpha Centauri. But another race of ancient beings has already been here—an impossibly long time ago—leaving remnants of their vast complexes and gigantic temples built for horrific beings beyond comprehension.
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Good Exploration Story
- By Greg Shelton on 11-12-24
What listeners say about The Ancients
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- AlishaKJ
- 10-26-24
Sociological SF — imaginative and deeply intelligent
The Ancients is a novel about humans in the far future, long after our imminent collapse. It’s about resilience and the culture of endurance and survival. It’s about mothers. It’s the closest I’ve seen to Le Guin without being Le Guin.
The book is imaginative and deeply intelligent. The writing carries you without getting in the way. The main characters were completely relatable. An impressive accomplishment!
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- cristalyne
- 10-22-24
Tragic yet stunningly beautiful
I’m left with the notion that we cannot totally comprehend our past nor our future, but both exist and there is a kind of hope in that despite the climate catastrophe we are marching toward.
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- kat
- 11-09-24
Such a well written and thought provoking book!
I just can’t stop thinking about it… one of the best I’ve read in awhile although I wish I had a physical copy as well
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- J Kennedy
- 11-07-24
Fascinating until the end
The beginning and middle of the story was engaging with a wide range of stories and threads. The end was fast and hurried with predictable scenarios. It was disappointing and a story of brutality that had lost its magnificence. It ended with rambling prose that masqueraded as satisfying closure.
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